Combined stone and root gatherer



March 30,1926..

' H. GREATRIX COMBINED STONE AND ROOT GATHEBER Filed August 29, 1925 drawing in'whichf: v 4

Fig. l is 'a side elevational View of my machine. "f

Patented Mar. Y

UNITED/STATES? HENRY `ciannrmx, or NIAGARA'TALLS, ONTARIO, CANADA. 1

ycoiirlnvnii STONE AND Room GATHERERI f Application nled August 29, .19237. Se1ia1 No.-.659,983.

My invention relates to improvements in combined stone and rootgatherers and the object ofthe invention is to devise a machine that can be adjustedto gather'either roots or stones as the ycase may be. A furtherobject is lto provide an inter changeable diggingmember which will p ermit the machine being usedv forharvesting roots ofi-different sizes and 'astillfurther obj ect is to devise a machine, the ,digging niernf ber of which will automatically disengage wheny itencounters anl obstructionin the ground. vj

Myinvention consists of a combined stone and rootgatherer constructed and arranged all as hereinafter moreparticularly described and illustrated in theV accompanying l Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, and

-Fig 3 is anV enlarged detail of the means Y for resiliently securing the digging member` to the framev of the-machine.

l Like'characters of reference indicate oorresponding parts in the different views. l

l is the, main frame of the machine, 2 and 3 are the rear and front pairs of land wheels suitably mounted thereon. 4 are a pair of downwardly and` forwardly lext-ending bracket members secured at their rear ends vone onzeach side of the frame l in thefvicinity ofV ground wheels 2.' l

5 area. pairof downwardly extending y struts secured at( their upper ends'toithe vframe l interinediatelyk of itslen'gth and at their lower ends to the bracketginembers 4 in the vicinity of their free ends. 6 area pair ofA upwardly extending'` standards mounted on the framel intermediately "of its' length; 7 and 8are belt'conveyors which are adapted'topassoverrollers'Q and 10" pivotally mountedv on.V the ,transverse shafts 1l and -12 which are vjournalled in the npwardly extending brackets A6.

"13. is a roller mounted upon a shaft 14v whichis slidably ljournalled inga pair of vslotted bearings lprovided on thestrutsz,

such roller being adapted tocarry the lower end of the vconveyor 7 iarey springs .1n

serted between the bearing caps 36fand sliding cap 371 bearing on kthe shaft 14,' the springs' permitting an upward movement of the shaft 14 in the bearings, should the con-y veyor belt 7 passing over the roller 13 come into contact gwith a stone or root ofunusu'al size.k 16 is a roller adaptedqto carry. the lower end of the conveyor 8, said' roller being mounted upon 'a transversely extendfv f ing shaft lwhich is suitably journalled in bearings 18` positioned atthe intersection yof the strut and bracket member 4.

ENT oFF-ice. 1' 5| 19 isth'e 'root or stonedigging member which isprovidedfwith aplurality ofjfoin ivaidly extending spaced apart'teeth 20.` 2l

' are ay pair Iofstub shafts tlfireaded Von their.

inner ends and Iadapted to be screwed into7 Ythreaded socketsp34 one in each endofthe ineniberj'l). 22 arebearings provided on the 'lower` extremity ofthe :memberj 4 through wliichthel Vstub s liaftsare adapted ytoextendj- 4 K 23 are a pair of spiral springs encircling the protruding kportions of the stub shafts 2 1, the `inner end of such springs being secured to the bearings 22 andthe'outer ends" thereof being secured to the stub shafts 2l,

.such springs being so vadjusted that thefdig# ging member 19 is lat the correct diggingangle, as is` clearly illustratedin- Figure Y YShould the digging member .strike l`any ob.-`

struction the springs 23 will` permit its swinging y baclruntilsuch obstruction is cleared, when itA will -iniinediatelyswing for- .wardunder the influence of*k such springs. 24 are a plurality of rows of outwardly extending teeth provided'upon the. belt con! veyor 7 and 25 are'similar'teeth provided upon the belt conveyor 8.

The teeth 24 4andthe teeth 25 Ahave ,the

same spaced relation so that as Athey come together spaces 26 are formed in which the roots are carried upwardly without inJury. 27 is a driving chain adapted to pass over la sprocket wheel 28 .secured on the live axle 29 of the vland wheels 2, said cham 2 7 lpass-y vmg over sprocket wheels 30 and 3l pro vided upon the outwardly extending endsof the respective conveyor roller carrying shafts ll and .12. Y

32 is al sprocket wheel upon a stub .shaft 33 on pivotally mounted 4the lower Vportion of the lbracket member 6, the chainV 27 be#` ing adapted to pass' thereover so thatsuch chainhas a larger bearing surfaceover the sprocket wheel 31 than would be the case if such sprocket 33 were not inserted. 34a

- is a root o r stone receiving receptable pro-4 y croundby such teeth.

i spaced teeth will vided upon the frame l in the vicinity of its rear end, the forward end-of such recep-V table being in the vicinity of thel'upper end of the 4v'belt conveyor '8 so that when the roots`are carriedover the rollerflO by such conveyor they will drop thereinto.

38 'are aplurality of upwardly extending spaced apart'teetlrmounted upon the downwardly extending frame l Vrearwardly of the belt conveyor, theteeth thereon being adapted to pass between the teeth 38 and vthus be cleared of any Weeds which Vmay have nbeen carried Vhen soft roots are being gathered I ,place rubber sleeves on the teeth 24 and 25 so that when the roots come into contact with the teeth they will not be bruised,`

The operation 'of the device is as follows: "Themachine is provided withv a plurality of interchangeable digging members 20, the teeth of'which are. ofdifferent spacinfgiso vthat'a digging member may be inserted havingteeth suitably spaced lfor wthe root that "is to be dug.

HFor ',exarnple, when digging having finer and vcloser, be used,'whereas the digging of turnips or other large roots will require :a vmuch larger spacing ofthe teeth, l'1t/being desirable to permit the clay falling 'between the yteeth Vbefore the roots vare lifted by the conveyor.V As, the machine isV drawn forwardly the digger passes under the roots orfstones which will slide upwardly on its inclined surface, the clay falling between the teeth, until they come into contact with the potatoes aY digger teeth 24 ofthe toothed belt conveyor 7 Y As posited in lthe such belt conveyor travels in a clockwise di- .rection the roots or stones will be projected rearwardly until they come into 'contact with the teeth 25 on the toothed vbelt conveyor S and are carried upwardly anddefl Areceptacle 34a, the belt being actuated from means of the sprocket chain 27.

On desiring to change the digging mem- I'ber 19 it is merely necessary to remove the springs-23 from the stub'sha'fts 2l'by the-re.-

frame 39 positioned on the' the'ground wheel axle 23 by Inova-l of the lcotter pin 35 and washer 36. The stub shafts 2lv are then unscrewed from the digging member 19, permitting such digging memberto be removed and another 1nserted'in its place. The stub yshafts 2lare then inserted,l the springs 23 being placed thereon and the washer and cotter `-pin 35 inserted.

Al 'From the above description it will be seenY and efreadily that l have deviseda very Asimple fective machine vwhich can be vutilizedgfor either vdigging stones or roots by the insertion of a digger of a grade suitable to the root which is to be dugf Wiliat I claim as my invention is: g

` Y l. An apparatus ofthe character described comprising a frame,l bearings carried the're-`v Y by,a digging blade provi-ded at its ends with stub `shafts ]eurnalled insa-id bearings and spring means coacting with said bear-f ings and stuby shafts toyieldably maintain' `the blade at an angle tothe vertical, ,said

blade being movable yagainst V.resistance jof said spring means -uponencounteringvfan obstruction.V i f between lsaid 'bearings and.` provided with t threaded socletsn'formed'inthe end portions thereof, stubsha'fts passing loosely through said bearings and threaded intosaid Vsockets.

and spring-means serving-r to yieldably hold the blade at a predetermined inclinationapi 4. An' apparatus of the character described kcomprising a portable frame, a pair of downwardly and .forwardly extending bracket members having'their frear 'ends secured-to lio.A

the sides of vsaidframe, a 'pair of down wardly*extending struts having their.l upperends secured to the sides-of they frame and their lower ends secured to the bracket members, bearings carried'by the bracket members forwardly of the intersection with lsaid struts, a vdigging blade carried by stub shafts rotatably mounted inisaid bearings, springs encircling said y'st-ub shafts and secured thereto and ito'the" braclret membersV j Vf in suchmanner as 'towholdthe bladeatl'a predetermined'inclinationbv cited in Vclaim 4 4of'cooperating conveyor means comprising brackets vprojecting forwardly 'from said struts, a. shaft carriedy by said-.brackets yand `equipped with rollers po- 5. The combination with-the struct-'urer'e-IV t r1,578,600 o v 3 sitoned forwardly of the stub shafts mountreal".` upperrrollers mounted abovel the frame ing said blade, further bearings formed at in alignment with said first mentioned roll-L the intersection .of the blade supporting ers, a toothed conveyor belt connecting the K10V 'stub'shafts mounting said blade, front `and brackets and the struts, ash'aft mounted in upper and lower rollers of thefront set and said last'mentioned bearings and equipped a slmlallbelt connecting theuppel" and v A with rollers positioned rearwardly of the lower' rollers of the rea-reet. .I

' 1 HENRY'GREATRIX. 

